Fuse for artillery and aviation projectiles



June 19, 1923.

E. RMONDY FUSE FOR ARTILLRY AND AVIATION PROJECTILES Filedspt. 2; 1921- mI Y Patented June 19, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Application led September 2, 1921. Serial No. 497,837.

To all wlwm it may concern:

Be it known that I, LoN EMILE R- MONDY, a citizen of the Republic of France, and residing at Rueil, Seine-et-Oise Department, No. 125 Avenue de Paris, in the Republic of France, engineer, have invented certain new and useful Fuses for Artillery and Aviation Projectiles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a fuse which is operated by inwardly directed movement and by inertia and contains no arming mechanism nor device requiring previous maneuver before the firing operation. The said fuse comprises a movable carriage adapted to be impelled inwardly of the main body of the said fuse and provided to this eii'ect with a portion extending outwardly of the` projectile. The said carriage is connected with the body of the fuse by a retaining member adapted to yield under the e'ect of the inertia of the projectile in the event of the sudden stop of the movable carriage upon the target.

An important feature of the invention resides in the :tactV that the movable carriage contains both the striker and the percussion primin Of these two elements, the one which 1s situated forwardly of the other is connected with the main body of the carriage, the element situated in the rear being caused to bear upon a portion of the said body by means of a retaining member adapted to yield under the effect of the inertia of the said rearwardly disposed element when the body of the movable carriage shall be sub- Lmitted to a high negative acceleration, such as can only be produced when the latter possesses a high speed and is caused to encounter an obstacle, the said negative accelerationv of the percussion `device being much more considerable, especially in soft ground, than thatI of the projectile whose mass is ver much greater.

'Iyhis device will absolutely prevent the priming and lthe striker from approaching each other under the effect of inertia upon firing the shot,` inasmuch as the main body of the device .will transmit a like positive acceleration toy both these elements at the same time. This will aiord a means of dispensing with the use of mechanisms for automatic or other arming which have hitherto beeny considered as indispensable but whose operation is of an unre iable nature in spite of all precautions. In case of pro-` elements of a simple andinexpensive char-l acter.

Thefollowing description, together with a the accompanying drawings which are given by way of example, sets forth constructional forms of this invention, wherein:

Fig. l is a vertical section of a fuse in the parts being shown intheir normal positions.

Fig. 2 represents the said fuse in the op erative position.

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section of a i modified form of construction for artillery use.

Figs. 4 and 5 are cross-sections respectively on the lines A--A and B-B Fig. 3. The fuse shown in Figs. 1 and 2 comprises a main fuse body 1 provided at the lower part with the detonating primer 2 and adapted to be screwed into the -priming tube. or booster which is in turn screwed into the projectile 4. The movable carriage comprises a'main body 5 made of a light material such as aluminium or the like and provided with a head 5a and a cut out tail portion 5*. Within the said body is disposed the percussion primer 7 which is contained in a primer holder 8. -The latter is movable in the interior of the tail portion 5", and is normally held apart from the striker 6 by a spring 9 termed the safety spring. The'main bodv of the movable carriage is connected with the body of the fuse by a in l0 which is intended tofbe sheared off w en the projectile reaches the target.- l1 indicates a packing washer formed of a exible, elastic or plastic substance such as felt, cloth, leather, cork or the like, disposed in a recess of the bod of the fuse and adapted to receive the e arged part 5 of the latter.

In case of accidental shearing of the pin 10 when firing, the said washer 11 obviates all violent .impact of the movable carriage against the body of the fuse, which shocks tive position of the elements also remains unchanged during the remainder of the trajectory of the projectile and to the end of the same. When reaching the ground, the head 5*l of the movable carriage strikes the ground before any other part of the fuse or of the projectile. By the effect of lthe shock, the body 5 of the movable carriage will-be submitted,'by reason of its very small inertia to a very sudden slowing action or even an instantaneous stop, whilst the projectile and fuse body 1 will shear off the said pin and will continue their movement until the forward end of the fuse body contacts with the head 5, Fig. 2, thus obliging the movable carriage to again participate in the movement of the projectile, until the latter comes to a stop after more or less entering the ground.

The movable carriage will thus be subv mitted for a very short space of time, and

' lmay also be deadened in the event of an ac- .particularly after the said pin has been sheared off, to a sudden slowing, whereby the primer 7 under the effect of its own inf ertia and that of the primer holder 8, will bc forwardly projected, compressing the spring ,9 andV will strike against the. striker 6.' ,This contact will cause thev percussion primer to detonate, thereby producing the detonation of the primer 2 which will bring about the explosion of the detonator and consequentlyv ot'- the projectile. g

Itshould be observed that any accidental shearing of the pin 10 at the time of firing will occasion no accident, especially since the piece 11 will prevent all violent shocks of the movable carriage against the body of the fuse. The shock of the movable carriage .cidental breakage of the pin at the start of the firing, by absorbing its vis viva by means of work consisting' in the deformation of one or more of its parts. It will suiice for instance to stop the movable carriage upon one or more conical surfaces whereupon it will undergo a deformation withoutbreaka. e. tlgiis kind. One of these, 11a serves to receive and to produce the deformation of the upper .part of the body of the device at 5c; the other. 11b serves to receive and to produce the deformation of the vlower part of the said body at 5d. i

The tapered surfaces 11 andv 11b act respectively on the portionsv 5 and 5d of mov- Fig. 3 shows` two conical surfaces of able carriage 5'in such a manner as `to progressively retard the rearward movement of carriage 5. The set back of/-the movable carria e is thus dampened to such an extent that there is no danger of spring 9 being collapsed and primer 7 being thrown into contact with pin-6.

It is also possible, in a well known manner, to absolutely prevent this breakage of the pin while at the same time allowing i1 a ver low degree of strength by placing under t e head 5 or at any other internal o1 external point a roughened ring or similal locking device which will prevent the m'ovable carriage from being driven in at tht starting yof thev shot, and which will disap pear for instance underthe action of cen trifuge force. A safety spring 9 whichi: intended to be ,pushed together under th effect of the inertia of the primer holder 1 upon the sudden slowin yof the main-bodj 5, will always have a su cient force to pre vent any improper movement lof the prime towards the striker in case the projectil should be accidentally dropped from a heigdht of several metres, and therefore th han ling of the. projectile during transpol tation or during the operation of'loadin` the cannon will offer no danger.-

For fuses intendedA for artillery use, it i advisable to take suitable vprecaution against all operation of thefuse in case 'o a sudden stop of the projectilein the car non. To this effect the primer holder or th primer may be provided with a stop pie( preventing all relative movement offthes elements towards the front as long as tl movable carriage is not driven into the she] Figs. 3, 4 and 5 show a device of this kin wherein the stoppiece is constituted by washer 12 provided with tenons 13 and di posed loosel upon the primer. The sai tenons pass loosely through the slots 14 i the body 5 and bear upon a shoulder 15 1 the .fuse body. This device will afford i hindrance to the operation when r'eachir the target, which takes place as above s forth. In order to permit the movable ca riag'e to be-mounted in positionl from the ei 'terior, the cutout portions 16 are formed the fuse body Vin such manner as to allo the passage of the tenons'13. 'lhese-havii been introduced into the body ofthe fus the body 5 is rotated through a right ang and is held inthis position by apin 10, 'shown in thevdrawingsf In the form of construction shown in -Fi 3, the body of the movable carria e is ma in two parts 5, 5, which may be orme'd the pressing process. The striker-'- 6 ismai tained between these twoV parts -'which` a connected by the pin 10 which is subject the shearing effect. v In order -to reduce t sensitiveness of the percussionfuse, 1t w .be advantageous to dispose thereony a' d of paper, metal or any suitable substance to protect the primer from the action of the point of the striker, thus affording a partial or an entire substitute for the protecting safety spring 9.

Inasmuch as the fuse according to the invention is not provided with arming devices, it is always in the armed condition in a certain measure, that is, it does not require to be submitted to a violent inertia action at the start in order to be prepared to operate, and it may thus be used in all cases for the arming of a projectile for avions or all other projectiles adapted to be thrown without high velocity. The body 5 of the movable carriage may be forwardly extended by a piece which is formed of light material such as wood, aluminium or the like. This extension piece may be connected or not with the bod 5 carrying the striker or may be removab y secured to the latter by any suitable means. In like manner, the forward end of the body of the movable carriage may be made ush with the body of the fuse 1, or it may also be rearwardly disposed in the interior should this be required for certain applications.

The above-described devices relate to fuses for instantaneous operation, but in all cases the fuse may be provided with a delaying device of the relay type in order to obtama retarded action. he percussion detonating fuses of known types may be readily transformed to fuses constructed according to the invention. In most cases, the modication will consist simply in removing the existing mechanism and substitutin the new percussion device. The interna? parts of the various fuses herein represented may be protected from dampness by a plastic joint 27, Figs. 1- and 3, disposed at the upper part of the body of the fuse around the body 5. It should be also observed that contrary to the major part of the fuses of the type having the primer fixed and the strike'r free lthe present fuse will not occasion any firing accidents in cases where the said pm or any substituted or additional member should fail to operate. In fact, as above indicated, the accidental forward or rearward displacement of the movable carriage within the body of the fuse under the firlng action will be unable to eiect the detonation of the primer.

It is obvious that in all the constructional forms of the invention herein represented, the relative positions of the rprimingland the striker may be inverted, and in this case the striker will move forwardly in order to strike the priming disposed in the body 5, at the instant of the sudden slowing of the movable carriage. The detonating priming 2, may be secured to the percussion priming 7, or may be formed together with the same. The latter may be disposed within the device 8, Figures 1 and 2, or may be closely disposed within the body of the movable carriage as shown in Figure 3. The body of the fuse 1 may be made integral with the booster 3 or, if desired, integral with the body 4 ci the projectile.

Claimsj 1. In a fuse for projectiles, a movable carriage comprising a hollow member adapted-to be forced into the said fuse b the resistance of the obstacle encountere a primer and a striker disposed in sequence in the said hollow member and whereof the forwardly situated element is secured to the said hollow member, and means for maintaining the second element at a certain distance 1n the rear of the preceding, the said means being adapted to yield solely under the action of the inertia of the said rearwardly situated element when the said hollow member encounters the obstacle.

2. In a fuse for projectiles, the combination of a fuse body, a hollow member slidable within the said fuse body and provided with a head extending outwardly of the said fuse body, iixin means for securing the 'said hollow mem er to the said fuse body and adapted to break under the actionof the inertia of the fuse body and the projectile when the said head encounters an obstacle, a primer and a striker disposed in sequence in the said hollow member and whereof the forwardly situated element is secured to the said hollow member, and means for maintaining the second element at a certain distance in the rear of the preceding, the said means being adapted to yield solely under the action of the inertia of the said rearwardly situated element when the said hollow member encounters the obstacle.

3. In a fuse for projectiles, the combination ofva fuse body, a hollow member slidable within the said fuse body and provided with a head extending outwardly of the said fuse body, fixing means for securing the said hollow member to the said fuse body and adapted to break under the action of the inertia of the fuse body and the projectile when the said head encounters an obstacle, means for obtaining a strong damping of the movement of the said hollow member towards the rear of the said fuse body, a primer and a striker disposed within the said hollow member, and a spring interposed between these two elements.

4. In a fuse for projectiles, the combination of a fuse body, a hollow member slidable within the said fuse body and provided with a head extending outwardly of the fuse body, fixing means for securing the said hollowl member tothe said fuse body and adapted to break under the action of the inertia of the fuse body and the projectile when the said head encounters an obstacle, means for obtaining a' strong braking action upon thesaid hollow member in its movement towards the rear of the fuse body, a striker and a rimer disposed within the lsaid hollow mem r, and a spring interposed between these two elements.

5. n a fuse for projectiles, the combination of a fuse body, a hollow member slidable within the said fuse body and provided with a head extending outwardly of the said fuse body, fixing means for securin the said hollow member'to the said fuse ody and adapted to break under the action of the inertia of the fuse body and the projectile when the said head encounters an obstacle, the said hollow member having lateral slots formed therein, a washer slidable within the said hollow member and provided with studs extending through the said slots, the said fuse body being provided with internally disposed shoulders `cooperating with the said studs, a striker disposed within the said hollow member adjacent the said head, a primer disposed within the rear portion of the said hollow member, and situated rearwardly of the said washer, and a spring interposed between the said washer and the striker. f

6. In a fuse for projectiles, the combination of'a fuse body, a hollow member slidable within the said fuse body and provided with a head extending outwardly of the said fuse body, fixing means for securing the said hollow memberl to the said fuse body and adapted to break under the" action of the inertia of the fuse body and the projectile when theysaid head encounters an obstacle, means for obtaining a strongibrakposed within the said hollow member,

ing action upon the said hollow member in its movement towards the rear of the fuse bodythe said means consisting in conical narrowed portions formed in the said fuse body co-o erating portions of the said hollow mem er and adapted .to under o deformation by being forced into the said narrowed portions,`a primer and a striker dis an means provided within the said hollow member for affording a certain resistance to the movement. of these two elements towards each other.

7. Ina fuse for projectiles, a fuse body, a movable carriage comprising a hollow member mounted in said body, a primer, a striker,

said primer and striker being disposed in sequence in said hollowmember and the` onwardly situated one of said elements being fixed y secured to said hollow member, and resilient meansv forl maintaining the 'rearwardly situated one of said elements at aipredet'ermined distance in the rear of the forwardly situated element, mid means being. adapted to yield solely under the action of the 'inertia of said rearwardly situated element when said hollow member encounters an obstacle.

8. A fuse comprising, in combination, a` fuse body, a hollow member slidably mounted in said bod means rendered inoperative when said hol ow member encounters an obstacle for normally maintaining said. hollow member in a predetermined position relative to said body, a primer, a striker, said primer and striker being positioned in said hollow member and one of said elements being xedly secured to said hollow .member, and a spring interposed between said primer and striker.

9. A fuse lcomprising a fuse body, a'member slidably mounted in said fuse body and i said primer and striker for preventing said striker. from firing said primer when a projectile in which said fuse is fitted is'subjected to a drop test.

10. A fuse comprising a fuse body, a meinber slidably mounted in said fuse body and normally maintained in a predetermined position relative to said body, a primer and a strikerpositioned in said member, the for-' wardly positioned one of said two last-named elements being fixedly secured to said mem- .ber. and the rearwardly Ipositioned one of said elements bein slidably mounted in said member, and yiel ing means interposed -between said primer and striker for preventing said striker from firn rojectile in which sai )ected toja drop test. y l 11. In a percussion fuse, the combinationl of a fuse body, a member movably mounted in Vsaid body, means normally retainn said member in a predetermined posit-ion re ative to said body, a firing pin and a. percussion cap mounteddn positioned one fuse is fitted is suband the rearwardly positioned one of said elements being VslidablyT mounted' in said said primer when a said member, the forwardly of said two llast-named elements being rigidly secured to said member' lll member, means normally maintaining s'aid slidabl mounted element at a distance from said rigidly mounted y element said lastnamed means beingrenderedineifective by the inertia of said slidably mounted element when said member encounters an obstacle capable of rendering said first-named means inoperative.

In testimony, as my invention I have signed my name 1n presence of a subscribing witness.

- Witness:

LEN EMILE RMONDY; 

